Detroit - A UNESCO "City of Design"
- ALocalsGuideDetroit
- Apr 18, 2024
- 5 min read
Updated: May 8, 2024
The Michigan metropolis is the only city in America to receive the UNESCO honor. This designation puts Detroit's design assets to work, ensuring a more sustainable and equitable future for all Detroit residents.
Detroit American City of Design - Detroit Named First American City of Design by UNESCO
Architectural Digest, December 2015
This week Detroit became the first American city to be named a UNESCO City of Design, an honor that recognizes a city's design legacy and commitment to promote cultural and creative industries, joining a total of 116 cities in UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network.
The application to UNESCO was put forth by DC3, a five-year-old network founded by Business Leaders for Michigan and committed to fostering creative fields in the state. It included a video by Emmy Award–winning filmmaker Stephen McGee that highlighted the city’s historic and present-day relationship with design.
“Detroit’s legacy of design is rich and includes Eames, Knoll, Bertoia, Diffrient, Rapson, Weese, Saarinen, Libeskind, Yamasaki, Kahn, Dow, Earle, and scores of others,” DC3 interim executive director Ellie Schneider told AD. “Design continues to play a significant role in our economy, and it was important that our application reflect our city’s contributions to the global design community, both historically and today.”
Detroit American City of Design - The city has been lauded as of late for its cultural renaissance (including by Architectural Digest), with companies like Shinola and a slew of new hotels, restaurants, and galleries returning focus to a city that was once the epicenter of American industrialism. A pride of place and a dedication to upholding this reputation make the future bright for Detroit—no doubt it will more than live up to UNESCO’s standards.
As a UNESCO City of Design, Detroit is part of a network of 40+ cities around the world using design to improve the lives of everyday people.
As one of the 250 members of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN), our goal is to establish Detroit's unique role as a global leader in inclusive design through collaborative action.
The cradle of American modernism, Detroit’s legacy as a global center of design is rich and includes Eames, Knoll, Bertoia, Diffrient, Rapson, Weese, Saarinen, Libeskind, Yamasaki, Kahn, Dow, Earle and scores of other prolific designers.
Detroit is one of the few cities that has fundamentally changed the way the world works, lives and moves.
Many credit Detroit as the city where the practice of industrial design was invented and perfected; with General Motors establishing one of the world’s first corporate design departments and College for Creative Studies establishing the world’s first transportation design curriculum during the 1930’s.
The infrastructure, workforce and youth educational programs in Detroit allow design to be the driving force behind Detroit's economic development. Design is not only a party of our history, but it also has the potential to drive us towards a better future.
ABOUT UNESCO CREATIVE CITIES
The UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) was created in 2004 to promote cooperation with and among cities that have identified creativity as a strategic factor for sustainable urban development. The almost 300 cities which currently make up this network work together towards a common objective: placing creativity and cultural industries at the heart of their development plans at the local level and cooperating actively at the international level.
DETROIT CITY OF DESIGN CHALLENGES
The City of Design Challenge provides a platform to develop ideas that improve access and opportunity in Detroit through the practice of inclusive design, putting the people of Detroit at the heart of the process.
The program builds on existing momentum by partnering with community leaders to offer direct support, accelerating the impact of leaders and helping others to learn from their experiences.
Fostering mutually beneficial relationships between designers & the communities in Detroit, this initiative connects directly to the UNESCO Detroit City of Design Action Plan by providing community-led groups access to resources to advance their solutions.
Join Design Core Detroit for the 2024 Detroit American City of Design- Detroit Month of Design, September 1 -30, 2024.
Open Call for Detroit Month of Design is now live and the theme for 2024 is Creative Currents.
Detroit Month of Design is a citywide collaboration of creativity that gathers designers, consumers, residents and the greater community to celebrate Detroit’s role as a national and global design capital. Detroit Month of Design returns for its 14th annual edition this September 1-30, 2024!
Every September, partners across Detroit—from emerging studios to established companies and educational institutions—come together to show off their latest works and ideas. These cross-disciplinary events take place in all corners of the city, highlighting the talent and innovation that makes Detroit a UNESCO City of Design.
The Detroit Month of Design activates spaces all over the city with experiences ranging from exhibitions, installations, product launches, talks, tours, workshops and parties.
2024 THEME
This year's theme, Creative Currents, pays tribute to Detroit’s unique legacy of artistry and innovation, while emphasizing the importance of collaboration and collective action as we look to the future.
The ripple effect of Detroit’s design history stretches across the globe, spanning time and space. Detroit forever changed the way the world lives, works, and moves. Today, the resonant connectivity of Detroit’s creative community creates a collaborative circuit where inventive energy flows freely as creative minds unite and amplify each other's ideas.
Creative Currents amplifies the notion that for our region to prosper, we must be deliberate about creating spaces where the flow of information, opportunities, and creative solutions can move freely and equally. The Detroit Month of Design exists as a platform for creating these intentional spaces.
Today, the creative minds in Detroit hold the keys to our collective success. As we move through this time marked by rapid changes in our economy, environment and tech, the innovators of today embody Detroit’s Legacy in Motion.
ABOUT THE MONTH OF DESIGN
Detroit Month of Design is a citywide collaboration of creativity that gathers designers and the greater community to celebrate Detroit’s role as a national and global design capital. Detroit Month of Design returns for its 14th annual edition this September 1-30, 2024!
Every September, partners across Detroit—from emerging studios to established companies and educational institutions—come together to show off their latest works and ideas. These cross-disciplinary events take place in all corners of the city, highlighting the talent and innovation that makes Detroit a UNESCO City of Design.
Open Call: Detroit Month of Design 2024
Participate in the 14th Annual Detroit Month of Design. Event Organizers, Artist Opportunities, Venue Hosts, Partner Opportunities & more...
Apply: Open Call
The UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) comprises cities from around the world that have recognized creativity and cultural industries as essential for sustainable urban development. As of now, there are 350 cities in the network, covering seven creative fields:
Crafts and Folk Art
Design
Film
Gastronomy
Literature
Media Arts
Music
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